Article Courtesy of Spectrum
Bay News 9
By Jason Lanning
Published June 26, 2021
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NEW TAMPA — Pebble Creek Golf Course, a 54-year staple in the New Tampa
community will shut down permanently on July 31st.
The shutdown will include Mulligan's, an
Irish Pub and Restaurant attached to the clubhouse.
What You Need To Know
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Pebble Creek Golf Course to close
permanently on July 31
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Owner says a decline in golfers and
increase in maintenance costs no longer makes the course
profitable
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After contaminated areas are cleaned
up, Ace Golf will search for a developer to buy the
property
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A zoning change would be the next
step in the process once the course shuts down
Bill Place, the owner of Ace Golf which
owns Pebble Creek Golf Course, says a steady decline in
golfers in recent years and increasing costs associated with
course maintenance no longer makes the golf course
profitable. |
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Previous efforts to sell the golf course to a new owner have failed.
Place says Ace Golf is searching for a developer to eventually build homes
on what is now the 18-hole golf course.
"It would be better if we could manage this to get the best alternative use
possible."
At the end of July, Place says crews will begin digging up tee boxes and
greens to mitigate contamination from years of heavy fertilizer use, which
is an environmental requirement before any development of the course can
happen.
As those areas are cleaned up, Ace Golf will search for a developer to buy
the property.
At least one developer has been interested in the property in recent years
but backed out when the contaminated areas were discovered.
The original plans included enough room to build an additional 600 homes on
the golf course, however, Place says ultimately around 240 homes would be
built under a plan he hopes the HOA would approve.
If the property sits vacant with no development, the Pebble Creek
neighborhood could suffer a similar fate as Walden Lake, a neighborhood near
Plant City that saw its golf course shutdown in 2013, only to become
overgrown.
That golf course remains abandoned 9 years later, with a rezoning effort
still looming.
"It's a lose-lose for everyone. And that's why from the start we've been
working with the HOA, making it clear to possible builders that they have to
work with the HOA. There's no other way to continue forward."
Spectrum Bay News 9 reached out to Pebble Creek's HOA but did not receive a
callback.
Some homeowners previously were not on board with plans to develop the golf
course and could voice opposition to the zoning change needed to build more
homes in the community.
A zoning change would be the next step in the process once the course shuts
down, which could happen as early as later this year.
The owner reached out to us and says remediation of the course will likely
start early next year after a new developer gets zoning approval or just
before approval. The clean-up will not start immediately after July 31 this
year.
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